CLAIRE C. CECCHI, District Judge.
This matter comes before the Court by way of non-party [Redacted]'s
The facts of this action have been described at great length in a number of opinions issued by this Court, including the Court's most recent opinion, from which Respondent seeks reconsideration. As such, and in the interest of judicial economy, the Court refers the parties to those opinions for factual background.
"[R]econsideration is an extraordinary remedy that is granted `very sparingly." Brackett v. Ashcroft, Civ. No. 03-3988, 2003 WL 22303078, *2 (D.N.J. Oct. 7, 2003); see also Fellenz v. Lombard Investment Corp., 400 F. $upp. 2d 681, 683 (D.N.J. 2005). A motion for reconsideration "may not be used to re-litigate old matters, nor to raise arguments or present evidence that could have been raised prior to the entry of judgment." P. Schoenfeld Asset Mgmt., LLC v. Cendant Corp., 161 F. $upp. 2d 349, 352 (D.N.J. 2001). To prevail on a motion for reconsideration, the moving party must "set[] forth concisely the matter or controlling decisions which the party believes the Judge or Magistrate Judge has over looked." L. Civ. R. 7.1(i).
The Court will reconsider a prior order only where a different outcome is justified by: "(1) an intervening change in controlling law; (2) the availability of new evidence not previously available; or (3) the need to correct a clear error of law or prevent manifest injustice." N. River Ins. Co. v. CIGNA Reinsurance, Co., 52 F.3d 1194, 1218 (3d Cir. 1995) (internal quotations omitted). A court commits clear error of law "only if the record cannot support the findings that led to the ruling." ABS Brokerage Servs. v. Penson Fin. Servs., Inc., No. 09-4590, 2010 WL 3257882, at *6 (D.N.J. Aug. 16, 2010) (citing United States v. Grape, 549 F.3d 591, 603-04 (3d Cir. 2008)). "Thus, a party must ... demonstrate that (1) the holdings on which it bases its request were without support in the record, or (2) would result in `manifest injustice' if not addressed." Id. "Mere `disagreement with the Court's decision' does not suffice." Id. (quoting P. Schoenfeld, 161 F. $upp. 2d at 353). Moreover, when the assertion is that the Court overlooked something, the Court must have overlooked some dispositive factual or legal matter that was presented to it. See L. Civ. R. 7.1(1).
Respondent lists five places where it claims the Court committed "clear errors of law and fact" that should be corrected: (1) "[t]he Court weighed the interests using the wrong burden and appears not to have considered alternatives less burdensome to [Respondent]"; (2) "[t]he Court appears to have overlooked the evidence demonstrating that the Subpeona was pretextual"; (3) "[t]he Court appears to have overlooked both the full text of the Canadian protective orders and their severe inadequacies"; (4) "[i]n distinguishing this matter from Canadian cases cited by [Respondent], the Court appears to have overlooked critical facts"; and (5) "[t]he Court erred by issuing its decision at this time." For the reasons set forth below, each of the grounds raised by Respondent fails.
Respondent first asserts that the "Court did not weigh all relevant interests, using the correct burden of proof, and did not give sufficient consideration to the alternatives." ECF No. 50-1 at 2. The Court cited the standard governing the burden ofproof, Op. 8 (citing In re Lazaridis, $65 F. $upp. 2d 521, 524 (D.N.J. 2011) ("On a motion to quash, it is the moving party's burden to demonstrate that the subpoena is burdensome and unreasonable.")), and properly treated Respondent as bearing the burden of demonstrating the subpoena is burdensome and unreasonable. In seeking reconsideration, Respondent cites an unpublished, out-of-circuit, district court case involving a different procedural posture. See ECF No. 50-1 at 2-3 (citing Advanced Micro Devices v. Intel Corp., No. C 01-7033, 2004 WL 2282320, at *3 n.1 (N.D. Cal. Oct. 4, 2004)). Accordingly, Respondent has not demonstrated that the Court has overlooked a "controlling decision[]," L. Civ. R. 7.1(i), or that there was "a clear error of law," N River Ins. Co., 52 F.3d at 1218.
Furthermore, to the extent Respondent argues that the Court did not give proper weight to specific considerations in assessing whether the subpoena contains unduly intrusive or burdensome requests, the Court and the Magistrate Judge addressed these considerations. Specifically, the Court expressly acknowledged the objective of discovery was to determine the authenticity of the goods at issue, Op. 6-7, considered the terms of the protective orders in place in the Canadian Action, Op. 8, and considered Respondent's "requests for alternatives in the form of disclosures via less burdensome methods."
Respondent asserts that the Court overlooked "evidence demonstrating that the Subpoena was pretextual," "incorrectly allocated the burden of proof' to Respondent, and erred in distinguishing this case from two prior cases. ECF No. 50-1 at 6-8. The Court's Opinion makes clear that Respondent's putative evidence was found to either be immaterial or flawed in its reasoning.
Respondent asserts that the Court failed to consider the "inadequacy" of the Canadian protective orders. ECF No. 50-1 a 10-13. As Respondent acknowledges, even assuming Respondent's information is protectable, the Court and the Magistrate Judge both considered the Canadian protective order. ECF No. 50-1 at 12. While Respondent may disagree with the Court regarding the scope of the Canadian protective orders and their significance in this proceeding, "[m]ere `disagreement with the Court's decision' does not" support a motion for reconsideration. ABS Brokerage Servs., 2010 WL 3257882, at *6. Respondent's position appears to be an impermissible attempt to re-litigate this issue or raise new arguments.
Respondent claims that Court should not have distinguished this case from various Canadian cases. ECF No. 50-1 at 13. Respondent appears to assert that like in those cases, here there are possible alternative means of obtaining the requested information that have not been exhausted. ECF No. 50-1 at 13. Both this Court and the Magistrate Judge have already concluded that as a practical matter there are insufficient alternative means of obtaining the requested information in this case, and Respondent has not raised any grounds to disturb this conclusion on reconsideration. Moreover, Respondent has not articulated how this Court would be bound by Canadian case law.
Finally, Respondent argues that the Court should not have issued its decision at this time given the stay of the Canadian litigation.
However, given that Applicant has repeatedly "agreed to forbear from seeking the discovery ordered until such time, if ever, as the action against BTR resumes," see, e.g., ECF No. 53 at 13 n.6, the Court will stay the discovery sought until the Canadian litigation has resumed.
For the foregoing reasons, this Court concludes that Respondent has failed to meet its burden on a motion for reconsideration, and accordingly, Respondent's Motion for Reconsideration, ECF No. 50, is
Second, Respondent points to "the illogical behavior of Applicants in this matter." ECF No. 50-1 at 7. The behavior Respondent points to, generally consists of failing to agree to Respondent's proposed alternatives for discovery. As discussed above, the Magistrate found, and the Court agreed, these alternatives are not appropriate in this case. Accordingly, failing to agree to them is not illogical or evidence that the litigation is pretextual.
Third, Respondent points to theiact that the evidence Applicant is seeking would support an affirmative defense of the opposing party in the underlying Canadian litigation. However, "[t]he purpose of discovery is to achieve `mutual knowledge of all the relevant facts gathered by both parties.'" Robinson, v. Horizon Blue Cross-Blue Shield of New Jersey, No. CIV.A. 12-2981 ES, 2014 WL 3573339, at *2 (D.N.J. July 21, 2014) (quoting Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495, 507-08 (1947)). Accordingly, under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26, "Parties may obtain discovery. . . that is relevant to any party's claim or defense." Applicant's use of discovery in accordance with its intended purpose does not support Respondent's claim of pretext. As Respondent noted in an earlier round of briefing, "U.S. litigants often obtain discovery to disprove a defense." ECF No. 16-7 at 13.
Finally, Respondent asserts that Applicant has sought the same discovery from other suppliers related to the Canadian litigation, and to date has not found evidence of unauthorized sourcing. ECF No. 50-1 at 8. This alone, or taken with the tenuous points above, does not indicate that this proceeding is pretextual.